Please press the Prev Button if you have not read the actual twelfth Chapter
'I can't sleep,' Russel thought to himself as he looked at the ceiling of his dorm room while the loud snores of his team leader reverberated in the room.
His mind was going a mile a second as it processed everything that he learned earlier today from Sho. From the origin of human life, the Zoanoids which he turned out to be, the aliens that created them all, the origin of Sho's armor, and the horrors that Sho faced on his home world. That was another crazy thing that Russel was coming to terms with, someone he considered a friend was technically an alien from another world. Though he said he believed Sho's story, Russel had to admit that it was unbelievable to anyone that grew up on what was considered factual history.
'I need some air,' Russel mentally said to himself as he got up from his bed.
The rest of his team were still asleep, given how Cardin's loud snoring was something he, Dove, and Sky had gotten used to. Well, he and Dove got used to the snoring while Sky slept with earplugs. Either way, Russel knew that none of his teammates were going to wake up anytime soon. Collectively, the four of them could sleep through a warzone if given the chance.
'I could go through the door, but I wouldn't be surprised if Goodwitch was out patrolling the halls tonight,' Russel thought as he considered the only other exit, the window. 'Suicide exit it is then,' he decided as he made his way to the window.
Once he opened the window, Russel looked down to see if there was anyone down below.
"No one ground level," he whispered before stepping onto the window sill. He paused when he felt the wind on his bare foot. "Maybe I should put on a decent set of clothes," he considered, remembering that his sleep wear consisted of just his boxers. "Eh, I'm just going to transform anyway, so why bother," he decided against the idea before jumping out the window.
As he fell, Russel focused on changing forms which happened instantly. Once he landed, the young Zoanoid was in his battle form.
"Huh…thought it would take more effort than that," Russel admitted to himself before launching himself toward a nearby tree.
Unknown to Russel someone else was also out and about in the middle of the night.
"The kid is getting the hang of his new body," Aptom said to himself as he followed the young Zoanoid into the woods outside of Beacon.
Emerald Forest
It had taken Russel at least an hour of jumping from tree to tree to reach the forest, but he barely felt winded. He found himself standing in front of the ruins where Ozpin had placed the chess pieces for everyone to retrieve. His eyes focused on the alter where his partner grabbed the black bishop piece before the two of them headed back to where Ozpin launched them.
"Hard to believe that was a semester ago and I'm still here," Russel said to himself.
As Russel continued to reminisce that day, he heard a twig snap at least a kilometer east of his location. The young bird-like Zoanoid turned his attention toward the direction of the sound while bending his knees slightly and spreading his claws, taking on a primal battle stance that felt like second nature to him.
"Easy kid, I'm not here to fight," a gruff male voice said from within the shadows.
But Russel didn't drop his guard as the figure moved closer. His eyes widened for a moment as Aptom emerged from the shadows in his Omega Blast form.
"You…" Russel said as he relaxed while Aptom walked toward the ruins.
"It hasn't been twenty-four hours and you're already shifting into your Zoanoid form like it's your real skin," Aptom commented as he crossed his arms. "You're a bit of an oddball," he added.
"Really, I haven't noticed," Russel replied as he turned around to look at the alter again. "Honestly, this form just feels normal," he told the older Zoanoid.
"How so?" Aptom asked, intrigued that this kid felt that way.
"It's hard to explain…" Russel trailed off as he focused on the alter. "When I was just a kid, I never felt like I really fit in with the others," he began again.
"A lot of kids feel that way," Aptom interrupted. "They usually end up like a whining emo, acting like the world doesn't understand them and that their little problems are earth shattering," he added.
Russel gave off a light chuckle when he heard Aptom's jab.
"Yeah, like that Blake chick," Russel said, his mood feeling better. "For a while, I actually thought that was what was wrong with me," he added. "But…I think it has more to do with how I just felt like my body just didn't feel like it was mine," he continued.
Aptom stayed silent as he let Russel continue talking.
"Now that I think about it, I was just acting like an idiot," Russel admitted as he turned to Aptom. "I guess my body just didn't reach maturity," he added, trying to make sense of what he was trying to say.
"Maturity or it just wasn't awake?" Aptom asked, deciding to let the kid speak his mind as freely as possible, regardless if the boy's words barely made any sense.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Russel agreed. "Wish my body did this when I was in combat school," he added.
"Combat School?" Aptom said, not familiar with that term.
"Each of the four Kingdoms have one Academy for huntsmen and huntresses, but combat schools are kind of like introductions to kids that want to fight Grimm," Russel explained. "I'm not sure about the other Kingdoms but back in Vacuo, Combat Schools were mandatory for kids," he added.
"Why?" Aptom asked.
"Because we live in a lawless desert wasteland with only, using the broadest possible term, formal government being Shade Academy," Russel answered. "But since the academy can't teach every kid in Vacuo, whether because of a shortage of teachers or because of our nomadic lifestyle, so Shade decided to try establishing combat schools in the most populated areas of Vacuo," he went on.
"So that the kids would be able to protect themselves," Aptom said after listening to Russel.
"Pretty much," Russel replied.
"And I'm guessing you weren't exactly top tier in your graduating class," Aptom said.
Russel chuckled as he scratched the back of his head with his right claw.
"Well…it's not like I was actually trying," Russel told Aptom. "Honestly, I wasn't really into the whole huntsmen thing until I realized that I could make at lot of money off of it," he continued.
"So, you're only in it for the money," Aptom stated.
"Yeah, the way I see it the whole planet is swarming with Grimm and they're always going to attack people," Russel told Aptom. "So why not get paid to kill some that happen to get too close to any village?" he added.
"I'm sure some of your peers would say you would be exploiting innocent people," Aptom replied.
"Well, you can't maintain your gear without money," Russel countered. "Not all of us are loaded like Schnee," he added bitterly.
"Personally, I don't give a damn if your peers see your choice as bad or not," Aptom surprised Russel when he said that. "You're in charge of yourself, so you can do whatever you want," he added. "Don't forget that kid," he told the young Zoanoid before leaving Russel alone.
Russel watched as Aptom walked away, surprised that there was someone who didn't judge him because of his reason for becoming a huntsman or try to feed him that 'there's more to life than money' speech that he would have expected.
"You're an interesting guy Aptom," Russel said as he looked up at the night sky and saw the damaged moon. "I wonder if the Creators were the ones who broke the moon," he said to himself before making his way back to the school. "At least that story about the Creators is better than that stupid fairy tale about the old man who gave four girls superpowers just to get them to leave him alone," he added.
Back in Beacon, Ozpin found himself sneezing unexpectedly.
"Strange…" Ozpin said as he wondered if he caught a cold.
Beacon
With the Vytal Festival only a couple of days away, all the students were getting themselves ready for the event. Those that chose not to participate in the tournament, prepared by coming up with activities to do to entertain the people that would come. The ones that chose to participate were trying to squeeze a little more training before the tournament.
Such was the case for the group of friends Sho has made as he watched a match between Weiss and Dove with Glynda supervising.
While it was clear that Weiss was the one in control of the match, Sho had to admit that Dove has improved as he parried several of Weiss's strikes while managing to land a couple of blows on the Schnee heiress.
"Dove's doing pretty good down there," Sho remarked as he saw the armored swordsman spun evaded a blast of ice from Weiss's rapier.
"Well, he is the best fighter on our team," Sky told Sho. "But I think our team's dynamics will have to change before the tournament starts," he added.
"You're changing your heavy hitter from Cardin to Russel," Sho guessed what Sky was talking about.
"Of course," Cardin joined in. "While I like to believe that I'm still the strongest of the team," he started to brag.
"Strongest human on the team," Sho corrected the CRDL leader.
"Yes…" Cardin agreed, feeling a little bit depressed for a moment. "Russel's recently discovered heritage gives us an edge against the competition," he started once again.
"Speaking of your edge against the competition, where is Russel?" Sho asked, remembering how the R in CRDL was missing.
Cardin blinked his eyes for a moment before clenching his fist in anger.
"Damn you Russel…" Cardin muttered to himself, still having no clue where their resident Zoanoid was.
Sho shook his head before turning his attention to the rest of his group of friends. He noticed how the rest of team RWBY was cheering on Weiss along with teams JNPR and SSSN, with Nora shouting for Weiss to break Dove's legs. Over at his right, Sho spotted team NDGO with Nebula on her scroll, most likely trying to contact Russel. Gwen noticed Sho looking at them and waved to him, which he returned before focusing back on the match.
The match ended with Dove knocked onto his back due to Weiss using a Glyph to send him flying out of the ring. The screen showed the results with Dove's aura completely drained while Weiss's was a high yellow.
"Excellent Ms. Schnee," Glynda complemented Weiss. "Your use of your spacing was superb," she told the girl before turning her attention to Dove. "Mr. Bronzewing, I recommend that you tighten up your footing and defense," she simply told Dove.
Dove gave the blonde teacher a weak thumb's up as Cardin and Sky arrived to help pick their teammate up from the floor while Weiss went to her team.
"I'm starting to see Aptom's point about how everyone tries to look flashy," Sho said to himself.
"For our next match, let us have Ms. Gale from Shade Academy against Ms. Katt from Atlas Academy," Glynda said as the two girls she called for approached the ring.
Beacon Infirmary
"Thank you for your time Mr. Thrush," James said to the mohawked boy as the nurse finished drawing blood.
"Yeah, no problem," Russel said as he rolled down his uniform's sleeve. "So, why you guys interested in my blood?" he asked.
"It is nothing to be concerned about Mr. Thrush," Ozpin assured his student.
"It's my blood, so it's my concern," Russel wasn't buying his headmaster's words. "Last I checked, I'm one of your least promising students," he added as his gaze focused on the silver haired man.
"I can assure you, you are a promising student," Ozpin said to Russel, trying to appease the boy.
"Yeah right," Russel retorted as he stood up and was about to make his way to the door.
"As a Huntsman, you're not up to par," Zeus said as he entered the infirmary. "But your DNA might be the key to changing the status quo," he continued.
James was about to reprimand Zeus but stopped when Russel turned his attention to the third Guyver.
"How?" Russel asked Zeus, curious as to how his DNA would change the world.
"I'm sure Fukamachi told you about what you are," Zeus said as he looked at the boy who may indeed be a key component to his plans.
"That I'm a part of lineage of humans that were modified by aliens to bring out my full potential as a living weapon," Russel told Zeus.
James and Ozpin did their best to hide their shock, granted Ozpin was a master in hiding his emotions while James struggled. Zeus on the other hand simply smiled when Russel told him this.
"I expected as much," Zeus said, satisfied with what he heard before putting a hand on Russel's shoulder. "You shouldn't feel any disgust or shame in what you are young man," he told Russel. "I believe you are destined for far greater things," he added.
Russel looked at Zeus's hand, then back to him.
"I'm not disgusted or ashamed of being a Zoanoid," Russel told Zeus. "I am what I am, that's all there is to it," he added before making his way to the door before pausing. "Also, I don't believe in destiny or any of that higher power bullshit," he finished before leaving.
"That's a shame Mr. Thrush," Ozpin said softly. "For there are higher powers that you do not understand," he finished.
After exiting the infirmary, Russel pulled out his scroll to see several messages that were sent to him. He checked who the sender was and saw Nebula's nickname on each one of them.
"Oh shit," Russel said as he read the most recent one.
Seriously Russ, you better tell where you are right now or so help me I'll rip those horns of yours and shove them up your…
Russel flinched after he finished reading the message. He hit the reply button and started typing a response.
Got called into the nurse's office by Ozpin
Please don't kill me
Once he finished typing, Russel hit the send button and was ready to head to Goodwitch's class. He hoped that his girlfriend would understand and that her threat was just her being worried instead of upset with him. Just as he was about to round the corner, Russel ended up bumping into someone.
"Sorry about that," Russel said as he looked up to see the large frame of Yatsuhashi Daichi from team CFVY.
"You must always be aware of your surroundings," the giant of a student told his smaller peer.
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Russel said as he moved around Yatsuhashi.
"Just a moment," the giant halted Russel by grabbing his shoulder. "You are a part of team CRDL, are you not?" he asked.
"If this is about how we picked on your faunus teammate, I tried to apologize but your leader scares the crap out of me," Russel replied very quickly. "And trying to get Cardin to apologize is like pulling out teeth," he added.
"I see," Yatushashi said as he let Russel go. "Be that as it may, I am more interested in that one person that seems to spend a lot of time with your team," he told Russel.
"A lot of people are interested in Sho," Russel told Yatsuhashi. "If you're asking me to see if he wants to spar against you, do it yourself," he added.
"I plan on doing so, however I simply want you to deliver a message to him from my teammate," the giant of team CFVY said as he handed Russel a letter addressed to Sho. "I trust you will deliver it to him," he said before leaving.
Russel looked at the letter in his hand before looking up to see that Yatsuhashi had already left the hallway.
"He moves pretty damn fast for a big guy," Russel commented before pocketing the letter. "Dude definitely doesn't know his birds though," he added as he continued on his way to the combat classroom.
Goodwitch's Combat Class
By the time Russel reached the classroom, the majority of students were already leaving. He spotted teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN talking amongst themselves on one side of the hallway. As he reached the three teams, Blake spotted him. Her eyes narrowed for a brief moment before she turned her attention back to her friends. The rest of her team and teams JNPR and SSSN noticed Russel coming closer to them and stopped talking. After seeing Russel transform in a reptilian bird monster, most of the three teams were a bit wary of him. Whether they were all still in shock about Russel being a creature known as a Zoanoid or from the tale Sho had told all of them, Russel didn't know or care. Sun, being one of the very few members of the three teams, waved to Russel when he spotted him.
"Hey Russel," Sun called out to the young Zoanoid. "The rest of your team is waiting for you inside," he told Russel. "I think Nebula and her team are in there too," he added.
"Thanks," Russel replied as he made his way to the classroom but stopped for a moment. "Is Sho there too?" he asked.
"No, he left a while ago," Sun answered. "Think he said something about needing to talk to that other cyborg ninja guy," he tried to recall.
"Guyver, Sun…" Sage corrected his leader. "It's not that hard to remember what their armor is called, since the guy shouts out its name every time he uses it," he pointed out.
"Damn," Russel said in a low tone. "Well, if any of you see him, tell him I got a letter for him," he told the three teams.
"A letter huh?" Yang joined in. "I don't think your girlfriend would like you cheating on her," she said in a teasing manner.
"You're one to talk," Russel retorted as he made his way to the classroom, Pyrrha and Scarlet giving him room so he could make his way to the classroom.
"What was that?" Yang replied, her eyes turning red as she approached Russel.
"Oh nothing," Russel replied, not at all worried about what Yang could do to him.
Seeing Russel act so nonchalant was making Yang madder as she grabbed Russel by his shoulder and turned him around while everyone backed away from the two. Given how infamous Yang's short temper was, many students were scared of her, and would never dare say anything insulting about her, let alone insult her directly. In the past, Russel would avoid angering her due to not having the strength to hold his own against Beacon Academy's third strongest first year student. However, that was no longer the case as Russel's Zoanoid form gave him an edge against Yang.
"Yang, please don't start a fight," Ruby begged her sister.
"You better listen to your little sister blondie," Russel said as he removed Yang's hand from his shoulder. "Besides, the letter is from someone from team CFVY," he added before heading into the classroom to find his team.
"A letter from a member of team CFVY," Jaune interjected, wondering who it could be from. "Who could that be?" he asked.
"It could be from Velvet," Ren guessed. "Sho did get Cardin to leave her alone last Semester," he reminded everyone.
"Do you think Velvet has a crush on Sho?" Ruby wondered as she thought about the shy rabbit faunus girl.
"That's ridiculous," Weiss scoffed. "One kind act isn't enough of a reason to develop a crush," she pointed out.
"It could happen," Ruby insisted that it was possible for Velvet to have crush on Sho.
As the three teams continued talking, Blake kept her eyes focused on Russel as she saw the boy nearly get tackled by Nebula before he hugged her. Ever since the revelation of Zoanoids and Sho's origins, Blake had a difficult time accepting the idea of everything on Remnant was created by aliens to be a bunch of living weapons. The only other Zoanoid she had ever seen was Aptom, and she can still see that creature slaughtering her fellow faunus in her nightmares with no remorse. So in her mind, Russel was no different, especially with how he went along with Cardin's bullying ever since they were admitted into Beacon Academy.
'How can she not see Russel as the monster that he is?' Blake wondered as she watched Russel talk to his teammates while holding hands with Nebula. 'He's no different from that other monster,' she continued thinking.
A couple of hours later, the majority of students were in the cafeteria eating dinner and chatting. Sho was sitting alone at one table, eating his meal in peace until he noticed someone take a seat across from him. He looked up to see Agito sitting down with a tray of food in front of him.
"Enjoying the food Fukamachi?" Agito asked.
"It's good," Sho replied. "So, what have you been doing?" he asked.
"Going over the DNA sample that a friend of yours donated," Agito told Sho. "The Zoanoid," he clarified.
Sho stopped eating to look directly at the third Guyver.
"Why are you so interested in Russel's DNA?" Sho asked.
"You should already know the answer to that" Agito switched to telepathic communication, for safety reasons.
"But why try making more Zoanoids?" Sho asked once he realized that this was a topic that can't be discussed in the open.
"It's simple really," Agito started to explain. "While General Ironwood placed a good amount of military resources and funding into robotics, he left enough for alternative weapons," he continued to say.
"And you want to use those resources to create a new breed of Zoanoid," Sho deduced. "But what makes you think the General would agree to it?" he asked.
"The General has seen your friend in action as well as Aptom," Agito told Sho. "Ozpin had a drone watching over you and your friends yesterday," he brought up.
"Ozpin…should have known," Sho narrowed his eyes when he thought about the headmaster of the school. "Did you tell them what Russel and Aptom were?" he asked.
"Of course, and their reactions were what I expected," Agito answered. "Ozpins and his assistant had looks of disbelief, as if the idea that their views of how their world came to be was fact and that what I explained was a fairy tale," he explained.
"How ironic," Sho retorted given how just about everything involving Remnant was based off of some warped fairy tale. "What about the General?" he asked.
"General Ironwood looked skeptical, but I can tell by the way he was looking at Aptom and your friend, the wheels in his head were turning," Agito told Sho. "And no, I don't believe he would be willing to optimize the students of his school or any other," he added.
"But he might consider using his soldiers?" Sho considered that option.
"At the moment no, he is not," Agito said. "But I think that would be a better choice than what is being done now," he added.
"The fact that these schools are training kids to fight the creatures of Grimm," Sho figured where Agito was going with this topic.
"Doesn't it seem odd that these kingdoms would spend so much time and resources training kids to fight in such unnecessary ways, and allow them free reign on where they would fight these creatures?" Agito proposed the question. "With the creatures of Grimm as their main threat, it makes more sense to streamline the training by focusing on how to kill each creature and develop effective weapons for that task," he explained.
"Yet so many students here use weapons that are impractical and fight in ways that are in all honesty a complete waste of energy," Sho understood where Agito was going. "That's something I've been wondering for quite some time," he confided in Agito. "At first, I thought it was because the hunters also dealt with criminals that were too difficult for local law enforcement," he brought up.
"That's another thing that makes no sense," Agito interjected. "Why have police forces at all if they are not equipped or trained enough to handle criminal activities such as the Dust robberies as well as that terrorist group?" he brought up. "If almost feels like whoever came up with the Huntsmen as the sole line of defense for all the kingdoms," he added.
"But that's a stupid idea," Sho commented. "Especially if the Huntsmen are given free rein on how they would conduct themselves," he added.
"Military and law enforcement run by mercenaries," Agito deduced. "With the possibility that several being completely loyal to one person," he added.
"Who?" Sho asked.
"I have an idea of who it is, but we'll have to wait until I can confirm it," Agito told Sho.
"HEY SHO!" Ruby shouted from across the cafeteria.
Sho and Agito looked up to see Ruby and her friends making their way toward him. Sho had to admit he was surprised to see Ruby bounce back to her usual self after he told her and everyone else his origins. However, it looked like Ruby was one of the few who could bounce back as most of Ruby's circle of friends seemed hesitant to follow the young reaper as she made her way to his table. He also noticed that the group consisted of teams RWBY and JNPR with Sun and Neptune only. The group of ten sat around Sho and Agito, with Yang getting close to the older Guyver.
"So…" Yang started speaking as she kept her eyes on Agito. "Were the two of you having a moment?" she teased the man, looking him up and down.
"Yang, stop being so lewd," Weiss told the blonde brawler.
It took a lot of willpower for Agito to keep his composer, but he was able to maintain the image of control. He looked toward Sho to see the younger Guyver talking to Sun about there being a letter for him that Russel had at the moment.
Off to the side, Nora couldn't help but look at Agito before looking back at Ren. The gears in that girl's head started turning before she broke out into a grin.
"I knew it!" the hammer wielding girl shouted as she stood up from her seat, drawing everyone's attention as she pointed a finger at Agito. "You're Ren's alien cousin!" she declared.
The whole group just stopped and looked at Nora in complete silence for what felt like an eternity.
"Nora, have you forgotten to take your medication again?" Sho asked before shaking his head at the crazy girl. "Makashima and Ren are not related beyond being humans," he told the girl.
"But…but the two of you are from another world and our creators brought our ancestors here," Nora started saying, causing the rest of Ruby's circle of friends to look around frantically to see everyone else in the cafeteria to look at them in confusion. It would appear that Nora was one of the few who accepted the origins of humanity very easily, which could be seen as a bad thing since Nora can't keep her mouth shut if she felt like speaking her mind.
"And how does that prove that Ren and Makashima are cousins?" Sho asked the crazy girl.
"Because they look alike," Nora reasoned as if it was so obvious.
"That's actually pretty common place in the area of Earth that Makashima and I came from," Sho pointed out to Nora.
"Plus Ren's not as fit as this guy," Sun chimed in.
"This is what you have to deal with?" Agito asked Sho.
"You get used to it," Sho replied as he watched as Nora started defending the honor of Ren's delicate features.
Agito shook his head, annoyed with this foolishness, before standing up.
"If you need me Fukamachi, I'll be in the room that was provided for me, going over Thrush's DNA," Agito told Sho before leaving.
Sho nodded his head, despite not being told which room Agito was occupying, Sho would have no problem finding it if needed. He did notice how Yang was still keeping her eyes on Agito and felt like messing with her.
"Hate to break it to you Yang, but Agito is out of your league," Sho told the blonde girl, which caused said girl to turn her attention to him.
"Yeah right," Yang started before gesturing to her body. "Like anyone can resist all of this," she told Sho as she cupped her own breast as they were biggest assets next to her hair.
Sho shook his head, so used to the blonde's antics that he wasn't even fazed by Yang's use of her sex appeal.
"Makashima prefers girls who are mature and level headed," Sho said. "The last girl he was with was someone you couldn't hold a candle to," he added.
"And what's that girl got that I don't?" Yang asked as she crossed her arms under her breast, making them look bigger than they already were.
"The ability to command an army of super Zoanoids, a custom made battle form, and weaponized appendages similar to hair," Sho replied evenly. "Trust me, I don't think there is a single girl who can match Shizu," he added.
"Shizu…" Pyrrha said, figuring that was the girl's name. "What was she like?" she asked Sho.
Sho's teasing expression changed quickly as he became solemn as he remembered the young woman who was always by Agito's side, especially after her grandfather's death.
"She was a bit like you Pyrrha," Sho finally answered. "Kind, caring, and loyal to her friends even when things got rough for us," he explained. "It was no surprise that she allowed herself to become a Zoalord type in order to help Makashima in our fight against Chronos," he added.
Teams RWBY, JNPR, Sun and Neptune looked at Sho, remembering that he told them that he was from another world and had an enemy that ended up ruling his world.
"Why would she let herself be changed into one of those things?" Weiss asked, not understanding why anyone would want to become one of these creatures.
"I guess she just loved him enough to become a weapon for him," Sho replied, his mind wandering back to how the girl he loved, supported him by simply being there for him. It may not have been the same as with Agito and Shizu, but just knowing that Mizuki was waiting for him was enough of a reason for him to keep fighting regardless of how the odds were stacked against him.
"That doesn't sound like love to me," Sun commented, earning a couple of glares from some of the girls in their group.
"I don't think so either Sun," Sho agreed, earning a few surprised looks. "But figuring out what goes on in Makashima's life is never easy," he added.
"Wait, didn't your friend say something about going over Russel's DNA?" Neptune asked, wanting to change the subject.
"Yes, he did," Sho replied.
"Why would he do that?" Neptune asked, getting everyone else to wonder as well.
"What do you think?" Sho asked in return, wanting to see if Neptune can figure out such an easy question.
Neptune's eyes widened as he remembered how less than twenty-four hours ago, Russel revealed that he was a shapeshifting being with a savage fighting instinct. Weiss had caught on quickly as well as she gasped in horror, which led to Blake realizing this too.
"No…" Blake whispered. "Why would he want to make more of those abominations?" she asked, staring at Sho's eyes, hoping to see any hint of mischief in them. Sadly, she saw none.
"Geez Blake," Ruby joined in. "I would have thought you of all people would be more accepting," she pointed out.
"There's a difference between humans and faunus accepting each other and accepting…that!" Blake practically yelled out. "You all saw what Russel was like when he changed," she reminded them. "And that other one…he…" she tried to continue.
"Blake, chill," Sun told cat faunus. "Sure that bug guy killed a few White Fang goons," he continued, earning a glare from Blake. "But didn't you guys do the same during your mission that led up to the Breach?" he pointed out.
Blake looked shocked when Sun brought that up, but she wasn't going to back down on this.
"We didn't try to kill them," Blake told Sun, with the rest of her team agreeing.
"Whether you girls meant it or not doesn't matter," Sho interrupted. "In the end those members of the White Fang are dead either by your hands or by the Grimm they tried to unleash on Vale," he told team RWBY. "And none of that has anything to do with Russel," he added.
"But he's…" Blake tried to say something.
"Blake, Russel is a Zoanoid," Sho started up again. "That is a fact, but that doesn't mean he is anything like Aptom," he told Blake. "Try to see Russel for who he is, instead of what he is," he finished.
Blake looked downcast, as much as she didn't want to admit it; she was acting like a hypocrite. She had hated it when someone like Cardin would treat faunus as lesser beings yet here she was acting like him, seeing Russel as no different from the creatures of Grimm, a mindless beast only capable of killing.
I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am.
Those were the words she said to Ozpin when he asked her why she hid her faunus heritage from everyone in Beacon. Now those words were being used against her.
Before Blake could say anything in response, Jaune decided to speak to Sho.
"Uh…Sho, do you think it's possible that we can talk to your other friend later today?" Jaune asked.
"What…" Sho said in reply, shocked that Jaune would ask that kind of question.
"Well, I was thinking that he could give us a few pointers for the tournament," Jaune explained.
Sho was silent for a brief moment before replying.
"Jaune, forget it," Sho told the lead of team JNPR. "Aptom doesn't give a damn about any of you," he turned his attention to everyone around him. "Even if I were to find him, he wouldn't give any of you advice just because I asked him to talk to you all," he added.
"But, aren't the two of you friends?" Pyrrha asked Sho.
Sho shook his head at Pyrrha, surprising everyone even more.
"While I do consider Aptom a friend, he does not see me as such," Sho told them all.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked. "Surely, the times you two have spent fighting alongside one another meant that he considers you an ally," he added.
Sho was thinking about telling them the truth about his camaraderie with Aptom, but decided it was better that he didn't out of respect for the Ultimate Battle Creature. He didn't like keeping secrets from his circle of friends, but this was one that should be told by Aptom, not him.
"It's between Aptom and me," Sho told everyone.
"That's not good enough Sho," Weiss scolded the Guyver as she stared him down. "You need to be more honest with us," she added.
"She's right Sho," Pyrrha joined in. "You've already told us so much about your past," she told Sho. "Why is this one any different?" she asked.
"Because this one has more to do with Aptom's past," Sho told Pyrrha. "And I don't want to lose what little trust and respect Aptom has for me," he added as he stood up to leave. "Just promise me, none of you will try to confront Aptom," he requested. "Unlike Russel, Aptom is a killer and he won't think twice about killing any of you if you get on his nerves," he added as he left.
Cinder's dorm
Cinder and her group were having a private meeting to discuss the plan.
"Preparations are nearly complete," Cinder told Mercury, Emerald, and Neo. "The White Fang has secured the Grimm for the invasion, and we have access to Beacon's entire network," she continued.
"That just leaves us figuring out where the Fall Maiden is located and who they plan on selects as he successor," Emerald said as she looked over the list of girls they have.
"There's still one problem," Mercury interjected as he held up his scroll to show the clip of the Gigantic Guyver. "None of us expected this and personally, I don't think we have the fire power to take that thing on," he added.
"What, you're scared?" Emerald taunted the young merc.
"Of a guy who can turn into a nine foot tall giant that can punch a Deathstalker into oblivion without even toughing it, who wouldn't be?" Mercury remarked. "I doubt that Lisker guy could take him," he added.
Neo was silent throughout this meeting as she was more focused on relaying everything to Lisker via her scroll. Roman's right hand woman still wasn't sure she could trust Lisker, but the bronze Guyver was clearly her best chance at not only freeing Roman, but keeping the two of them alive when Cinder decided that the two thieves have outlived their usefulness. She looked down to see Lisker had sent a message requesting that he join this meeting. Curious of what the Guyver was up to, Neo agreed before waiting for Lisker to call.
Once Neo's scroll rang, she quickly answered and turned on the speaker.
"Who is calling you Neo?" Cinder demanded an answer from the silent woman.
"That would be me," Lisker's voice came through the scroll. "I asked her to let me join in on this meeting," he told the half Maiden.
"Why are you so interested in joining in our discussion Lisker?" Cinder asked.
"I'm simply curious as to how this plan will work in regards to undermining the Huntsmen as a whole," Lisker told Cinder. "Exactly, what sources are you using to accomplish this?" he asked.
"Well we have information that one of the students of Atlas is actually a robot designed to look like a girl, and we plan to use that to make everyone be suspicious of Atlas," Mercury answered for Cinder, annoying the woman. "We also plan on using Blondie's attitude against her during the tournament," he added.
"And that's it?" Lisker remarked.
"What, you have better ones?" Mercury snapped at the scroll Lisker's voice was coming from.
"Actually yes," Lisker replied. "A while back, I was involved in a White Fang rally that was being infiltrated by a couple of students which led to the demise of many innocent people," he started to explain. "Now, how would the people of Vale feel if they had just found out that a terrorist organization managed to set up a base of operations in a kingdom they thought was safe?" he asked the four in the room. "Or the fact that there was someone with enough power to kill them without leaving a trace?" he added.
Cinder listened to what Lisker was telling them and was imagining the panic this would bring.
"Go on," Cinder said to Lisker.
"I also remember one of those students was once a member of the White Fang," Lisker continued on. "While some Huntsmen might not see this as a big deal, the civilian population will see it as a big deal. After all, the civilians want to feel safe knowing that the Huntsmen will keep all the horrible things away including terrorists," he pointed out.
"Yes, the people would like to feel safe," Cinder agreed, knowing that majority of people sees the White Fang as nothing more than terrorists, that allowing a member into the ranks of the Huntsmen would damage their image. "Do you know who this student is?" she asked.
"I don't know her name, but I remember her having black hair, pale complexion, amber eyes, and cat ears," Lisker answered. "She keeps her ears hidden with a black bow, so she shouldn't be too hard to spot," he added.
"Sounds like the Emo friend of the blond bimbo," Emerald said as she tried to remember the girl's name.
"Hm…a cover up and accepting a terrorist into his Academy," Cinder said as she smiled at these new pieces of information. "It's like Ozpin is trying to ruin all of his hard work," she added, quite satisfied with what was being presented to her. "But we'll need more, anything that would spread distrust among the civilians," she said before turning toward Emerald, Mercury, and Neo. "Looks like you three will be busy between matches," she told them.
"We won't fail Cinder," Emerald told her leader.
"Yeah, yeah," Mercury said, not happy that he had to do more work.
Neo nodded her head before turning her attention to her scroll.
"One question Lisker," Cinder said. "Why were you so interested in joining in this discussion?" she asked. "You said you were curious, but what is your real reason?" she continued asking.
"I simply want to know just how far you're willing to go with this plan," Lisker answered.
"And what do you think now?" Cinder asked.
"I was thinking that you weren't going far enough," Lisker answered. "If you really want to spread chaos and despair, you have to be willing to commit to it fully," he told the woman.
Cinder's smile became more sinister when she heard Lisker tell her all that. After all, she was never one for doing anything half-assed, so why should she start now?
Author's note: Little fun fact, originally I was going to have Russel have a match against Yatsuhashi, but my computer died out on me and I forgot to save the progress into my USB drive which meant I had to rewrite the chapter from scratch. In the end the fight felt unneeded as the chapter evolved into Sho and Agito addressing a major element of the RWBY universe.
Who in their right mind would think several of the weapons used by Huntsmen would be effective against the Creatures of Grimm?
Naturally, it's because of the Rule of Cool trope. Yet realistically, the majority of these weapons would be impractical such as Weiss's rapier, a decent weapon against a person in close quarters combat, but against monsters like a Nevermore or a Goliath, a pretty stupid choice of weapon. Yes, integrating such a weapon with Dust, Aura, and Semblance makes up for its short comings but looking at the rapier on its own, you're asking to die against such monsters.
Another reason why Sho and Agito find this to be odd is because they are still bound by the logic of their home world despite being bio-boosted humans with access to upgrade units that make them Gods among all mortals.